Clarence John Laughlin
The Shadows Fall

The Shadows Fall

© The Historic New Orleans Collection

The Shadows Fall
The Shadows Fall
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • The Shadows Fall
Date1952
PlaceNew Orleans, Louisiana, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 13 3/4 × 10 7/8 in. (34.9 × 27.7 cm)
Sheet: 13 3/4 × 10 7/8 in. (34.9 × 27.7 cm)
Mount: 17 × 14 in. (43.2 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Mary Kathryn Lynch Kurtz Charitable Lead Trust, The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2002.1510
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

A self-described “extreme romantic,” Clarence John
Laughlin was convinced that old homes acquire lives of their own. The Louisiana
native photographed historical architecture to earn a living, but his personal
work—especially his most famous photobook, Ghosts
Along the Mississippi
(1948)—symbolically interprets buildings rather than
merely documenting them. Laughlin made many visits to Belle Grove, a Greek
Revival–style plantation that was one of the largest homes in the South prior
to the Civil War. This “tragic queen,” as Laughlin described it, stood largely
in ruins by 1952 when the photographer heard over the radio that it was burning
and rushed to the scene with his camera. Framed by tremendous oaks with
mournful-looking moss, this picture eulogizes the crumbled mass of the building
while also suggesting that plantation culture had rotted from within.




Provenance[Manfred Heiting, Malibu, California]; purchased by MFAH, 2002.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Stamped in black, verso of mount, upper left: "Print No. M-5 / C.J. LAUGHLIN / 627 DECATUR ST. / NEW ORLEANS 16, LA / ALL REPRODUCTION AND AD- / VERTISING RIGHTS RETAINED / BY THE PHOTOGRAPHER / 7201"

Inscribed in black, recto of mount, beneath lower left of mounted sheet: "The Shadows Fall: 1952 (Belle Grove Plantation)"
Signed in black, recto of mount, beneath lower right of mounted sheet: "Clarence John Laughlin"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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